Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday Mish-mosh: One Hyde Park

A massive 9,000-plus square foot spread in London's insanely expensive One Hyde Parkrecently hit the open market with a staggering asking price of £65,000,000. A couple of quick clicks and clacks of Your Mama's currency conversion contraption reveals that's a bone-crushing 104,419,000 U.S. dollars at today's rates.

Listing information shows the two-wing apartment, linked by a extravagantly long 65-meter corridor, occupies the entire 8th floor of the very contemporary Richard Roger's designed complex's Pavilion C and includes both city and tree-top views of Hyde Park. Listing information indicates the decked-out spread—which appears to Your Mama to be a sponsor unit with interiors by Candy & Candy—has 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, and 3 reception rooms.

Most buyers at One Hyde Park are shrouded in secrecy and a matter of intense gossip and speculation. Most of the sold units are owned by off-shore corporations and it's been reported that fewer than 10 of the 86 units are occupied by full-time residents, a situation that no doubt leaves the glitzy complex in natty Knightsbridge feeling like a bit of a ghost town most of the time.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, otherwise known as the Prime Minister of Qatar, is a principle investor in the complex along with the Misters Candy and reportedly owns one of the palatial penthouses. Mister Al Thani, who owns a 8+ acre vacant parcel in Bel Air bought in late 2010 for $34,500,000, recently made a $31,500,000 offer to purchase two of deceased heiress Huguette Clark's New York City apartments but was rejected by the board who (allegedly) refused to even grant the sheikh an interview due to concerns about the size of his family, entourage, staff and security detail.

It seems awfully expensive for a single floor. is it furnished? I love Roger's work, but the diagonal rooms and the long corridor aren't immediately exciting. Better if it was a duplex or triplex with a staircase.

The UK is another extremely unequal society, not quite as unequal as the US but much more so than continental Europe. No doubt many of these people are not even British, but they feel at home in the land of dukes, duchesses and gross gradations of rank and status. While the average Brit is suffering from an economy that has gone back into recession. France shows perhaps a glimmer of light if Hollande carries through with his promise of a top tax rate of 70%. That's a good start. Now for surtaxes on houses worth more than 5 million Euros or pounds or dollars.

The Cat would have to be worth at least $250,000 AND be a designer breed like a Bengally Sphinx Siamese Blue and eats only kosher guinea pig meat. Unlike aussie moggies who are happy with Roo.Wonder what the neighbours would say if you took that for a walk in Hyde Park?Wonder what kind of tax break you get on that if you buy it under business expense??????

The Candy boys are the UK's answer to Donald Trump (except unlike Donald they are self-made). Major property developers who have a sense of style you might call Shanghai Casino Chic. I expect this was the look the Eccleston girl was trying to achieve in her remake of the Spelling monstrosity.

I must say, its an incredibly ugly building from the street, and I pass by it often. The floor plan is an interesting essay into making the diagonals work, but the interior look of these apartments is character-free, stereotypical modern bling-blah, and they are sooo not worth the money. I have serious doubts that the sales they claim were actually transacted. Candy Bros = trouble ahead.